As you probably know by now, The Analog Kid lives for b-sides and non-album cuts. In this continuing series, I will share some of my favorite EPs and 12″ singles from over the years in their entirety. And since it’s digital, you don’t have to worry about correctly setting the turntable speed to 33⅓ or 45!
If I was forced to pick my least favorite Rush album, my answer just might be 1987’s Hold Your Fire. I think it’s easily the weakest of the band’s often synth-heavy ’80s albums, although it’s not the synths that bother me– after all, I love Power Windows and that album is swimming in keyboards. No, my problem with Hold Your Fire is simply that some of the songs just aren’t up to Rush’s usual high standards– and from what I’ve heard, guitarist Alex Lifeson seems to agree with me.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Hold Your Fire is without merit. I absolutely love “Time Stand Still,” and “Turn The Page” is another song that I would love for Rush to bring back on their next tour. I think my favorite cut on the record just might be “Prime Mover”– it shows a playful side of the band that many critics often seem to overlook, and it’s also catchy as hell. The U.K. 12″ for “Prime Mover” also contains two live tracks from the Grace Under Pressure tour, including a live take of the rarely-played “New World Man”– Rush’s only Top 40 hit in the United States.
![Prime Mover [U.K. 12_] 1](https://analogkidblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/prime-mover-u-k-12_-1.jpg)
Rush: Prime Mover [U.K. 12″]
Vertigo/Polygram Records, 1987
Vinyl rip courtesy of the Analog Kid
1. “Prime Mover” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
2. “Tai Shan” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
3. “Distant Early Warning” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
4. “New World Man” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
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Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
Rush: “Time Stand Still” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Rush: “Turn The Page” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Both taken from the album Hold Your Fire
Mercury Records, 1987
Rush: “The Big Money” (Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
From the album Power Windows
Mercury Records, 1985
The Analog Kid 
Time Stand Still (with Aime Mann on backing vocals) is up there in my top 5 favorite Rush songs (I might have to put ten songs in my top 5 : ). Too bad I’ve never heard of them doing a live version. I hadn’t heard some of the other songs here, because the album wasn’t received well, but I like Prime Mover, so perhaps I need to take another look.
“Hold Your Fire” is definitely at the bottom of my Rush list, but it still has some excellent songs. “Turn The Page” is another really good one, and “Mission” is solid.